Barton and Megan Cutter with their dog Bear just before The Run for Young Race in downtown Raleigh.
Last Sunday, Barton and I are participated in The Run for Young, hosted by Christ Church of Raleigh. The run is in honor of Sadiki Young, a young man who was killed in a car wreck, where the driver had been drinking, and the fundraiser is a reminder to for young people to make healthier driving choices.
Have you ever seen the first scene in The Intouchables? In the first scene, the caretaker is speeding down the road, leading police on a chase, and when they catch up with them, Philippe, a quadriplegic, fakes a seizure for a bet with his caretaker. Now while we haven’t led police on a chase or faked a medical emergency, Barton, he hem, he hem (may have gotten us out of one or more speeding tickets).
And just like in the scene where the caretaker Driss feeds Philippe and gets distracted so that the bite of food lands in his eye instead of his mouth, admittedly, I have fed Barton driving in the Honda Civic and almost sent more than one French Fry up his nose. (And you think I’m kidding).
As we delight in driving our accessible MV-1 I have thought about the time I have spent in my little Honda Civic, with over 255,000 miles. There were times of singing at the top of my lungs driving down the highway way too fast, squeezing my car into places where it should not be, and lost in the day, not paying attention to how I got from point A to point B.
The times when I was emotional and should not be driving like the first Christmas after a broken engagement and my mom’s death, when I drove around Tuscaloosa, AL for hours and hours because I did not want to go home, sobbing as I sped down the road.
The time in Tuscaloosa when I was rushing home from work because I only had a half an hour, lost control of my car, and spun out in the middle of a highway, and was oh, so thankful not to have been hit by the 18-wheeler behind me.
Even when I think about Barton wheeling down the road in his wheelchair, too many close calls that I don’t want to know about, being on the road carries a risk. For him, walking to meetings or to get around provides an independence that outweighs that risk. For me, it’s while we’re driving in the car.
As we prepared for the arrival of our MV-1, not only were we getting the necessary paperwork together, we began to think about supplies we would need in an emergency. It comes from one too many times driving in horrendous weather, unexpected delays, and surviving tornados and hurricanes alike. Call us a little crazy, but it was fun gathering supplies, making lists, and talking through different situations.
But what about after the newness wears off? How easy is it to slip back into bad driving habits.
We all have them.
It is so easy to get complacent on the road, how to forget that while our cars and SUV’s are metal boxes used to get us from place A to place B, they can also so easily be turned into unintended wrecks, tragic loss and deadly weapons. Many times we are too wrapped up in our lives to remember this.
We were lucky that the sun came out for the Run for Young during this cold winter weather system. I was so excited because I had always wanted to run a 5 or 10 K race with Barton, but we could never figure out how to get his wheelchair to the start location, especially on the weekends when the buses run less frequently.
As we ran the race, Barton zipped in front of me with Bear on lead, keeping my pace up. They were an inspiration to keep running, keep going even when I felt out of breath.
Ironically, after the halfway mark of the race, I jumped on the back of Barton’s wheelchair taking a break from running, and was reminded from at least three police officers blocking off roads for the race, that yes, I was in fact cheating.
Barton and Megan Cutter finish the race- picture by Jill Knight.
Karma is rough, though. Barton wanted to zip me all the way to the end, so I stayed on, holding tightly as he made curves and hoofed us up a hill. Just before the finish line, though, we tripped a circuit breaker on Barton’s wheelchair and ended the race pushing his motor wheels through the finish line.
Whether we are driving, running or wheeling down the road, we take risks everyday.
And I will be a reminded of how precious and thankful life on the road is.
The spring and summer are filled with 5K races supporting all kinds of causes and fundraisers. It’s a great way to support the community, boost your health and have some fun.
And don’t get us wrong, we’ve already had our Thelma and Louise moment of just taking off down the highway without a care in the world. With new wheels for independence, it’s a freedom that we are just now fully experiencing.
When the weather thaws and snow melts this spring, where will you be getting on the road?